Radiator housing and guard structure



March 21, 1961 H. GILLlcK ETAL RADIATOR HOUSING AND GUARD STRUCTURE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS.- LAURANCE H. GILLICK RONALD W. MADDOCKS ATT'YFiled Jan. 30, 1958 March 21, 1961 L.. H. GlLLlcK ETAL RADTAToR HOUSINGAND GUARD STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 30, 1958 INVENTOR,LAURANCE H. GILLICK RONALD W. MADDOCKS av ATT'Y radiator grille.

United States Patent O RADIATOR HOUSING AND GUARD STRUCTURE Laurance H.Gillick, Wilmette, Ill., and Ronald W. Maddocks, Rosemere, Quebec,Canada, assignors to Vapor Heating Corporation, Chicago, Ill., acorporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 30, 1958, Ser. No. 712,149

8 Claims. (Cl. 257-295) The present invention relates to a novelVradiator housing :and guard structure for'railway cars whereby a seriesof steam or Vhot water'heaters of the radiating type may be supportedfromthe sidewall structure of the improved housing in an out-of-the waylocation beneath the wall trim `or seat sills associated with the carwall structure, while at the'same time the Vcold water pipe conduitsWhichconduct service water to the wash basins, toilets and the like Aarecaused to extend along the'front wall of the housing in concealedandshielded relationship with respect to the passenger space andpassageways of the railway car.

Heretofore it has been customaryto cause the elongated sectionalradiator structure of a railway ,car to eX- tend throughout the lengthof the car in concealed rela- 'tionship behind a suitable' grille whichis completely exposed to the car interior along the side wall structurethereof. rfhese grilles frequently become overheated sufficiently tocause discomfort `and possible injury to a passenger in the event ofphysical contact with the grille structure. Also the cold water pipingis ordinarily concealed between main and'sub-floors of the car orotherwise concealed in the car structure. v

The present invention is ydesigned to utilize the cold water piping toprevent discomfort land possible injury to the passengers in the eventof their contact with the 'In this connection'the invention contemplatesthe provision of a supporting structure for steam or hot Water radiatorunits and yfor the cold water piping of the railway car wherein,bymeans'ofa novel assemblage of paneling, shielding and anchoring means,the radiator units and water piping may be supported in substantiallycoextensive side-by-side relationship so that they extend longitudinallyof the railway car along the side Wall structure near the base thereofwhereby .certain advantages are obtained as regards the distribution ofheat within the interior of the car, the concealment of the heater unitsand cold water piping in suchmanner that the heater units functionefliciently to deliver heated air into the car and the cold Water pipingprevents overheating of the panels of the housing.

The provision of a novel supporting, shielding and concealmentarrangement which ,will accomplish the functions briefly outlined abovebeing among the Vprincipal objects of the invention, it is a furtherobject to provide such a structure whereinthe major components of thevarious parts of the radiator and piping Vsupporting structure Jray beformed of lightsheet metal stampings, thereby contributing to economy ofmanufacture.

A still further object of the invention, in a structure ofthis-character, is .to vprovide anasSem-blage of supporting structurewhich maybe manufactured and assembled in composite, packagetype units`at lthe factory and transported to the scene of installation where thevpre-assembled units may be connectedtogether and operatively installedat the time the heater and Water pipe installation is etected..

ice

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a supporting structurefor heater and water pipe installations wherein, after the installationhas been made, certain removable concealment panels associated with theassembly of pre-'fabricated units areconveniently available andvaccessible for removal so that access may be had to the radiator units,and to the piping for purposes of inspection, repair, or replacement ofparts.

The provision of a heater Vand piping supporting structure which isattractive in its appearance and which, in its design, cooperates withthe natural contour of the railway car to produce certain functionaleffects wherein heated convection currents of air are directed'to thecar interior without discomfort to the passengers, are further desirablefeatures which have been borne in mind in the production and developmentof the present invention.

Gther objectsland advantages of the invention, not at this timeenumerated, will become more readily apparent as the nature of theinvention is better understood.v

ln the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specicatiom oneillustrative embodiment of the invention has been shown.

ln these drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary front elevational view of a radiator and waterpipe supporting housing constructed in accordance with the principles ofthe present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line2-2 of Fig. 1. v

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly in A section, of aportion of the Istructure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially alon theline i-of Fig. l,and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line5 5 of Fig. 1.

vReferring now to the drawings in detail Aand in particu- `lar to Figs.3 and 4, the supporting and housing structure of the present inventionis shown as being applied to the inner sheathing or panel arrangement ofa conventional wall structure associated with a-railwaycare-which mayebeany one of numerous types as ffor example, -a :railway coach,.roomette,dining car orY the like. Althoughiaspecific form ofwall structure hasbeen shown herein for illustrative purposes, it will be vunderstood thatthepresent supporting and housing structure is applicabletofother typesof railway car wall structures. Irrespective 'however of the particularcar side wall structure with which the'invention may be associatedftheessential features thereof are 5at' all times preserved.

The-inner Vcar structure includes a lower floor platform l `and projectupwardly in the usualmanner.

The heater Yunitswhich' aresuppo'rfted by the 'structure of the presentinvention yare of conventional`V design, `the units being prefabricated,transported to the scene'oflinrstallationand then conneoted'together inseries as Vshown i in Fig. 2 wherein several `ofthe units,each'designated' at 16, are shown. The units 16 vmay be'of theconcentric tube type having' inner and outer I'cylindrical tubes'1-'7'and jacent ends of .the 'units 16. The outer tubular'in'em-- ber'1.8 of veach unit 16 vis providedwith the lusualfs'eries ofvheatdissipating and radiatin'g ns '23. .fAs will'lbeisetV forth in moredetail subsequently, the heater assembly just described which ordinarilyis supported from the wall panel is, according to the present invention,operatively supported in its longitudinally extending relation- Ship tothe railway car on a housing including a series of aligned supportingleg members 24, a bottom spacer panel 27, a front side wall 34,hereinafter called an attachment plate, and an upper trim member 60. Thesaid leg members are arranged in a longitudinal row and are themselvessupported from the oor and side wall panel 12 of the railway car in amanner that will be described presently. The leg members 24 also serveto support a series of water pipes or conduits 25, three such pipesbeing shown `at 26, the pipes extending longitudinally of the railwaycar and being arranged in superimposed relationship so that theirtransverse width within the car structure is maintained at a minimum.

As best seen in Figs. 3 and 4, the various leg members 24 are in theform of relatively narrow strips of formed sheet metal, each stripincluding a vertical leg proper 30, a horizontal shelf portion 31, and avertical attachment ange 32. The lower end of each leg proper 30 issupported on the floor 10 while the attachment yflange 32 is bolted as`at 33 to the trim piece 14 and side wall panel 12. A series of inclinedplates 27 extend between the lower ends of the legs 30 and the wallpanel 12 and are secured thereto by bolt assemblies 28 and 29.

Mounted on the various leg members v24 and supported thereon a shortdistance above floor level are a series of elongated attachment plates34 (see also Figs. l and 2), the plates being disposed in end-to-endrelationship and being maintained in alignment at their front and rearends by means of removable splice plates 35 which constitute closuresfor access openings into the interior of the housing and are bolted asat 37 to offset edges of succeeding attachment plates 34. The junctionplates 35 are thus disposed at the seams between adjacent attachmentplates 34. Each attachment plate 34 thus extends from a region adjacentone of the leg members 24 to a region adjacent the next leg member inthe series `and the connection between the plates 34 and leg members 24is made by through-bolt assemblies 40 which, in addition to maintainingthe parts 34 and 24 connected, additionally serve to clamp a series ofheater-supporting bracket assemblies 41 and a series of saddle clamps 42in position on the water pipes 25 in such a manner as to rmly clamp thesides of the pipes against the outer faces of the leg members 24.

The various heater-supporting bracket assemblies 41 are best seen inFigs. 2 and 4. They are conventional in design and no claim is madeherein to any novelty associated with the same except insofar as theycooperate with the present heater and water pipe supporting structure ofthe present invention. Each assembly 41 involves in its generalorganization a shallow U-shaped bracket 43 connected to the `frontattachment plate 34 and provided with side legs, across which thereextends a face plate 44, the face plate being welded to the outer edgesof the side legs. Bolted as at 45 to the `face plate 44 are a pair ofsupporting plates 46 and 47 which are L-shaped in vertical cross sectionand which `are arranged in back-to-back relationship. The outer edges ofthe two plates 46 and 47 are recessed as at 48 and the edge regions ofthe recess are turned laterally as at 49 in opposite directions .toprovide a composite semi-cylindrical cradle or seat 50 for receptiontherein of the sides of the outer cylindrical tube 18 associated withone of the heater units 116. The tube 18 is maintained seated within thecradle 50 by means of a spring clip or strut 51, the ends of which arebifurcated as at 52 and stradle the bifurcations 53 afforded in theybrackets 46 and 47 by virtue of the recess 48 and bear againstlaterally turned portions 54 on the brackets, with the medial region ofthe spring clip 51 being bowed outwardly and bearing tangentially as at55 against the outer face of the tube 18. The clips 51 aord a convenientmeans for detachably clamping the heater structure in position againstthe various brackets 46 and 47 of the heater supporting assemblies 41.lIt will be seen therefore that the heater assembly including thevarious units 16 are supported by the bracket assemblies 41 in operativealignment so that they extend along the car structure in the sideregions of the lloor 10 slightly elevated above the latter and slightlyremoved from the vertical wall panel 12 and within the generallyrectangular space or enclosure afforded by the oor 10, wall panel 12 andthe series of longitudinally extending attachment plates 34.

The rectangular space just defined is substantially closed at its upperend by a series of elongated members 60 which, although they arefurnished as a part of the novel heater and water pipe supportingstructure of the present invention, may be regarded as constituting trimpanel members for the railway car side wall 11. Each member 60 is in theform of an elongated channel-shaped sheet metal element having arelatively long transverse side 61 which overlies and is supported uponthe various horizontal portions 31 of the leg members 24. The side 61extends horizontally and is turned laterally to provide a relativelynarrow hat vertical inwardly presented edge region 62 which is itselfturned laterally to provide a short horizontal reentrant portion 63which underlies the horizontal portion 61 and the distal edge of whichis welded as at 64 to the outer face of the vertical legs proper 30 ofthe leg portions 24. Interposed between each adjacent pair of legs 24and immediately underlying the horizontal portion 61 of the various trimmembers 60, with its outer edge regions nested between the horizontalportions 61 and 63, is a curved insulating member 65 in the form of asheet of insulating material, the concave side of which faces upwardly.The medial portion of each sheet 65 is supported on a trough-like pan orsupport 66 the outer edge of which is provided with struck out ears 67secured by bolt assembly 68 to the legs proper 30 of the leg assembly 24and the inner edge region of which is provided with similar struck outears 69 secured by bolt assemblies 70 to the horizontal portion 31 ofthe leg assemblies.

The various trim members 60 are thus arranged longitudinally inend-to-end relationship with their adjacent ends providing seams whichare concealed by means of seam straps 71 (Fig. 5). The inner edge regionof the upper horizontal side 61 of each trim member 60 is flaredupwardly as at 72 and the seam strap 71, which follows the contour ofthe trim member 60 has its inner edge -hooked as at 73 (Fig. 5) aroundthe edge 72. A

The other edge of the seam strap 71 frictionally bears against the lowershort horizontal leg 63 of the trim member 60.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the previously mentionedsaddle clamps 42 are provided with cradle portions 74 for receiving thevarious pipes 25 and interconnecting portions 75 between the cradleportions. Bolt assemblies 76 pass through the connecting portions 75 andplate 34 and draw the saddle clamps 42 against the pipes 25 to in turnclamp the latter against the leg members 24. Secured to each leg member24 in vertically spaced relationship are upper and lower retaining clips77 and 78 respectively, the various clips serving to retain in positionover the pipes 25 a series of aligned trim members 80 serving as anouter cover to conceal the pipes 25 and serving also as a shield toprevent direct contact with the side wall 34. Each shield member 80 isgenerally U-shape in vertical transverse cross section and each has avertically extending outer plate 82 and top' and bottom walls 83 and 84respectively. The free edge of the top wall 83 is turned downwardly asat 85 so that it may be hooked, so to speak, behind adjacent brackets 77on the legs 24 while the free edge of the bottorn wall 84 is adaptedtofrictionally engage adjacent brackets 78 so as to securely but removablyretain the cover'or shield 80 in position over the pipes 2S and on thelegs 24 on the outer side of the latter and immediately outwardly oftheattachment plates 34. The meeting edges adjacent shields'tl are coveredby trim plates 80a.

In an installation of the character set forth above, when the heater.assembly .is in operation with steam flowing through the passages 20and 21, heat is radiated forwardly from these elements and that portionof the radiated heat which strikes the attachment plates 34 passesthrough the plates by conduction but the cold water pipes preventoverheating of the cover and shield structure 80 which enclose the waterpipes and constitute fthe outer face panel of the radiator housing. Themanner in which the heater assembly is supported in elevatedrelationship from the floor and in spaced relationship from the wallpanel 12 within the car structure by means of the leg members 24 permitsfree circulation of air around the heater assembly. Air which enters theelongated and generally rectangular space defined by the attachmentplates 34, wall panel 12, spacer plates 27 and upper trim members 60 4byflowing through the passage provided for it between the floor 10 andshield member S0 may pass upwardly around both sides of the heaterassembly as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 4 and the major portion ofthe air which passes in front of the heater yassembly will flowoutwardly again into the compartment or car space through the passageprovided for it between the shield plate 84 and the upper trim rnernber60. The air which flows upwardly behind the heater assembly and betweenthis assembly and wall panel 12 will, in general, ilow upwardly throughthe space existing between the inner edges of the trim members 60 andthe wall panel 12 and will be directed outwardly -by the trim panels 14and 1S into the car compartment. The arrangement is such that the heaterassembly is entirely concealed within the space provided for it while atthe same time the water pipes are not exposed to view nor are theyexposed to contact with passersby in the car passageways or compartmentsof the railway car.

We claim:

1. A prefabricated housing and guard structure for a railway carradiator comprising, in combination, a housing structure extendinglengthwise of the car at a side thereof in the region of the oor andprovided with a front side wall and air inlet and discharge openings,V

means located within the housing for supporting a radiator therein,whereby heated air is delivered into the interior of the car, achannel-shaped trim member having lateral anges removably secured to theouter face of said front wall of the housing to provide a closed butreadily opened conduit extending lengthwise of the housing along theouter face thereof and in the region of said radiator enclosed withinthe housing, andcold Water piping enclosed and concealed in said conduitand serving to prevent overheating of the outer face of saidchannel-shaped trim member.

2. A housing and guard structure for a railway car radiator according toclaim 1, wherein said housing includes a plurality of legs and anattachment plate iixed to said legs and dening the upper edge of an airinlet opening and a lower edge of one of said air outlet openings, .andwherein the radiator supporting means comprises brackets secured to theinner face of said attachment plate.

3. A housing and guard structure for a railway car radiator according toclaim 2, wherein means are provided for removably clamping said coldwater piping to the outer face of said attachment plate.

4. A radiator housing and guard structure for a railway car radiator asdefined in claim l provided with a horizontal trim plate which at leastin part overlies said radiator and has its inneredge spaced from theside wall of the car, thus dening with said car side Wall one of saiddischarge passages for atmospheric air passing upwardly along said sidewall behind said radiator and defining with the upper edges of saidattachment plates another of said discharge vpassages for `air flowingupwardly through the housing.

5. A radiator housing and guard structure for a railway car radiator asdened in claim l wherein each attachment plate has secured thereto alongone vertical edge thereof a removable splice plate which overlaps theopposed vertical edge region of the next adjacent attachment plate.

6. In combination with the side wall and oor structure of a railwaypassenger car, an elongated sectional radiator-type heater assemblyextending longitudinally in the compartment in the oor region thereofadjacent said side wall, and a plurality of water-conducting pipesarranged in super-imposed spaced relationship and likewise extendinglongitudinally `in the car in close proximity to said heater assembly atthe level thereof and on the side remote from said side wall, of asupporting structure for said heater assembly and water pipes; saidsupporting structure comprising a plurality of leg members in the formof narrow strips of sheet metal each having a. vertical leg and ahorizontal shelf portion, means for securing each leg member to thefloor and side wall of the car with the horizontal pontion thereofnormal to the side wall and the leg normal to the lioor with said legportions in longitudinal alignment in the car, attachment platesbridging the distance between adjacent legs interposed between theheater assembly and water pipes and spaced from the floor and horizontalportions of the leg members, said` attachment plates being arranged inendto-end alignment, means removably securing each attachment plate tothe next adjacent attachment plate on either side thereof, clampingmeans for securing said water pipes to each leg, means for supportingsaid heater assembly from the various attachment plates `at spacedregions along the heater assembly, and a horizontal trim plate bridgingthe distance between each pair of adjacent leg members and supported onthe horizontal portions thereof.

7. In combination with the floor and vertical side wall of a railwaypassenger car, a side (trim member presenting an inwardly directed ledgeportion spaced above the level of said oor, an elongated sectionalradiator-type heater assembly extending longitudinally in thecompartment in the floor region thereof adjacent said side Wall andbeneath saidfledge portion of rthe trim member, and `a plurality ofwater pipes extending longitudinally in the compartment in closeproximity to said heater assembly at the level thereof and on the sidethereof remote from said side wall, of a supponting structure for saidheater assembly and pipes, said supporting struc-ture comprising aplurality of leg members in the form of narrow strips of metal eachhaving a vertical leg and a horizontal shelf portion, means for securingeach leg `member to the floor and side wall with the horizontal portionthereof normal to lthe side wall and the leg portion normal to the oor`and all of said leg portions being in longitudinal alignment,attachmentplates bridging the distance between the adjacent legs andspaced from the oor and said horizontal portions of the leg members,said attachment plates being disposed in a common vertical plane,clamping means for securing the water pipes to said attachment plates onthe outside thereof, means for supporting the heater assembly on theinner face of said plates and a horizontal trim plate bridging thedistance between each pair of adjacent leg members and supported on thehorizontal portion thereof, the inner edge of each trim plate beingspaced from the wall, thus defining with the side wall a verticalpassage for `atmospheric air passing upwardly along the side wall of thecar behind the heater assembly, said trim plates being disposed belowthe level of said ledge portion of the trim member and definingtherewith a horizontal passage in communication with the verticalpassage for the flow of air issuing from the latter, a horizontal trimplate overlying said heater assembly and defining with the upper edge ofsaid attachment plates a horizontal passage `for passage of air flowingupwardly in front of the heater assembly and outwardly into the interiorof the car.

8. In a railway car, the combination set forth in claim 7 including,additionally, an insulating sheet underlying each trim plateand'coextensive with the latter, and a 8 supporting plate for eachinsulating sheet underlying the same and having its opposite edgessecured to the supporting leg member and horizontal portion respectivelyof the adjacent leg member.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,937,774 Naylor Dec. 5, 1933 1,976,564 Jourdan Oct. 9, 1934 2,212,201Paly et al Aug. 20, 1940 2,405,839 Ledwinka et al. Aug. 13, 1946

